What's a comment worth? How to better understand student evaluations of teaching
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the value of the written comments section on student evaluations of teaching and develop a framework to improve the interpretability of such data.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews past investigations into the reliability and interpretability of student evaluations of teaching, and then constructs a framework that can potentially improve the value of data gathered from written comments.
Findings
It is shown that including information about the congruence of the comment writer's empirical ratings with those of the average class participant may help instructors separate thoughtful comments that represent the majority sentiment from attitudes of a vocal minority or those with personal biases.
Practical implications
The proposed scheme can be implemented electronically while preserving the confidentiality of the evaluators.
Originality/value
The paper offers constructive suggestions on improving the written comments section, a component of student evaluations of teaching that has so far received little systematic appraisal.
Keywords
Citation
Wongsurawat, W. (2011), "What's a comment worth? How to better understand student evaluations of teaching", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 67-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881111107762
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited